Two People, Two Train Platforms

Emma K., 15

The man stood at the train platform. His train was delayed. It was a sunny day and his eyes matched the colour of his brown leather suitcase. Those eyes were looking at the opposing platform. At the woman with eyes as blue as summer and hair like the sun’s rays. Her gaze was distracted, focused on a point of no interest to her mind. The man wondered what she was thinking. He hoped it was him, but he doubted it. He wanted to go over and pluck one of the ear-buds out of her ears and listen to what she was listening to. The calmness of her stature and the accompanied smile that blessed her features suggested something classical, Bach maybe.

The woman sat on a bench on the train platform. She tore her mind away from her summer-sweet daydream, focusing once again on the opposing platform. The man had moved. Whisked away, with his briefcase and smart sensible shoes. Gone was his scruffy jacket and bed-head hair; the antique clasped tightly in his grasp, pages gasping to escape their bound. Was it a classic – Jane Eyre? – or was it something older, and much more quaint.
The man walked across the bridge between stations. He was glad that his train had been delayed. He wanted to be with her. Stroke her golden hair, listen to her music. He wanted to know where she was going, who she was.
The woman sat on a bench on a train platform. She waited for her train. She felt the ear-bud fall out her left ear. She moved to replace it and saw the man from the other platform. He had her ear-bud in his ear, humming blissfully along to her music. She smiled softly at him and gave her lips them moisture, to talk.
“You’ll miss your train.”
The man smirked. “It’s delayed. I have time,” A quiet moment passed, the sun rippling on the glass overhang.  “I thought you’d be listening to Bach.”
The woman quietly laughed. “I’m afraid I’m more of a heavy metal girl.”
The man grinned, cracking his professor demeanour. A train approached the station. Neither person got on. The woman raised an eyebrow. The man didn’t move. The train left the station.
Another train approached the station. Two passengers got on.